Guidance for Mentees

Mentoring is essential for a successful career in academic medicine. Mentors share their expertise in the clinic or laboratory, troubleshoot a problem, advise on a decision, and open doors to new opportunities. A mentoring relationship can be formal or informal, shared or individual, short-term or life-long. Mentors can provide guidance throughout your career but your needs may vary at different stages. Faculty benefit most from a network of mentors serving different needs.

How Can Mentoring Help Me?

What are your needs for guidance? Do you need a coach, a sponsor, or a counselor or a combination of these? Do you need specific help with an project?

Complete Step 1 of the Find a Mentor site to define your needs for mentoring. You may want to complete the Individual Opportunity Plan (IOP) to help focus your career goals before defining your mentoring needs.

Where Will I Find Mentors?

Although the traditional one-on-one mentoring pair is still the most common form of mentoring, there are a variety of different mentoring arrangements, such as peer mentoring, mentoring circles, or mentoring teams.